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Newsmaker: Quincy native turns mental health struggles into inspiring, humorous podcast

The Patriot Ledger - 6/15/2021

Name: Tim McCarthy

Age: 35

Hometown: Quincy

In the news: McCarthy runs his podcast, 20TIMinutes, to share his struggles with and break the stigma surrounding mental health.

Now you know: McCarthy's last milestone with the podcast was 6,000 downloads, and it continues to rise.

His story: A lot of laughter, a little bit of dark humor and honest chats about mental health are what listeners can expect from the 20TIMinutes podcast, hosted by Quincy'sTim McCarthy.

After dealing with mental health struggles through high school and into his adult life, McCarthy, who now lives in Whitman with his wife, attempted suicide on May 5, 2019.

It was after that moment when McCarthy decided to seek treatment and received diagnoses of general anxiety and ADHD as well as manic depression/bipolar II disorder. He then started a podcast to share his struggles and break the stigma surrounding mental health.

"Within that year or two, I always wanted to do a podcast," McCarthy said. "I never knew what I wanted to do it on because I feel like every other straight, white male with a beard and [who is] bald has a podcast. So I think I was opening up more and more to people cause one of my friends said 'You shouldn't be embarrassed by it, you should wear it.'"

McCarthy took the advice literally and got a tattoo on his chest of two semicolons with parentheses — a happy or sad face depending on how you look at it — to represent the bipolar diagnosis.

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McCarthy now produces 20-minute episodes for his podcast, as well as longer episodes that feature guests who share their stories regarding mental health. He limits his Tuesday uploads to 20 minutes because of his ADHD, as well as for others who don't like to listen to long podcast episodes.

The episodes can be found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music. They're also recorded for his YouTube channel, he said.

None of the episodes are scripted, McCarthy said, because he wants listeners to feel like they're having a conversation.

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McCarthy said he hopes other people can relate to him and understand there are so many different people with different experiences regarding mental health. He said the "stigma has to be broken" and talked about, but that it can be awkward.

"I'm just trying to make people laugh to get into it, because I feel like laughter is like the best medicine for me," McCarthy said. "Even in those dark times, that's kind of what kept me going, was like my dark humor, even though it would probably scare some people."

McCarthy said with a laugh that he tones down the dark humor in his episodes because his mom listens to them.

After he records every episode, McCarthy said his wife asks him how it went, and McCarthy jokingly responds, "worst one yet."

At the beginning of the year, McCarthy held a pre-order for t-shirts, and donated $300 to the Plymouth County Suicide Prevention Coalition.

"So they were very appreciative about that," McCarthy said. "They said that it will actually go a long way with classes and stuff."

McCarthy hosts his podcast on the side. His full-time job is an overnight 911 dispatcher for the state, which he has done for about eight years.

In the future, McCarthy said he plans to invest in better podcasting equipment. Long-term, he would like to host a live show with a fundraising aspect.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255.

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This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Newsmaker: Quincy native turns mental health struggles into inspiring, humorous podcast

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